Why I Love George Weasley
by Tonx14
Summary: or How Katie Bell Stopped Being Good. Updated! Finally
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! This is Katie/KT/Tonx14

This is my first story on though I've been hanging around here for awhile (read; 2 years)

please leave a message! Constructive critisim is helpful but flames wil be used to warm my house :-P

Quiches and Hogs, KT

Intriducing in this chapter drumroll Timid!Katie Bell, Kind!George, GravityProne!Fred, Angsty!Angelina, PlotDriver!Alicia and SomewhatUseless!Lee. YAY!

Why I Love George Weasley (or How Katie Bell Stopped Being Good)

Chapter 1: The Train Ride of Liberation

I guess I could say this all started on my first train ride to Hogwarts. I was much different then. The Katie Bell that boarded the Hogwarts Express was a stitch of a thing in two identical auburn braids and a fearful expression.

I nervously twisted my left braid around my fingers as I handed my trunk to a red cap and fearfully boarded the train. And that's when I met_ him_. Not many people can say their "White Knight" swept them off their feet and literally mean it, but I can. As I walked up the steps, I was knocked down by a 2nd year boy behind me.

"Blimey Fred, can't you watch were you're going?" the red-headed boy said.

"Sorry George couldn't see on account of your fat arse." said the other boy with a smile. I stared. They were identical. They must be twins.

"Language boys," warned a plump red-haired witch who obviously must be their mother. The one called George who knocked me down, turned at me and smiled.

"Apologies miss. My brother and the ground are very good friends, they're always meeting up with each other." I giggled. The other twin popped over George's shoulder.

"Ah, but my brother has no manners to speak of. I am Fred, and this is my brother George. We're Weasleys. Doubtless you've heard of us, eh?" I shake my head.

"I'm a Muggleborn." Fred opens his mouth to respond when they both get hit over the head by their mother's handbags.

"Get moving! You're holding up the line!" Simultaneously, both the boys lift me by my forearms and half carry me down the corridor. Fred (or was it George?) kicked open a compartment door and the two deposited me inside.

I look around the compartment. Besides the twins, there's a tall Hispanic girl, a dark boy in dreadlocks, a slim, brown girl. I shrink. They all must be 2nd years. They're going to kill me.

"Ah what have the Weasley twins brought us?" says the boy in dreads. He has very white teeth.

George replies, "Lee, be nice.'Tis a first year I reckon. She's- Blimey, what's your name?"

"Katie Bell" I say very quietly, my eyes on the floor. I _am_ in the presence of upperclassmen after all.

The Hispanic girl rises and walks over to me smiling.

"It's very nice to meet you Katie. I'm Alicia. You're in good hands with those two." She nods to the twins. The brown girl scoffs.

"Ah, Angelina you're not still mad at me over that event at the Closing Ball? Come on, new year, new-"

"Pranks?" the girl asked, rising to her feet and sneering, her arms crossed. "How are you going to humiliate me in front of Oliver Wood _this_ year? This being the year for tryouts, you'll have no end of opportune moments."

"Actually, I've been doing some thinking over the summer," He pulled her by the elbow back town to her seat and leaned over the arm, "I've decided I-"

He was cut off as the Hogwarts Express lurched to a start with a scream of a whistle. I was thrown off balance and nearly collided with George who was leaning nonchalantly against the glass compartment door. He caught me and I breathed him in for the few seconds I was near him. He smelled of outdoors and crackling smokiness of magic and the unidentifiable smell of boy. I glanced up at him, embarrassed at having smelled his jumper. He grinned, an expression I would, in a future life, dub "The Weasley Grin". I stumbled over to an empty seat by Alicia. She smiles at me knowingly. She knows I smelled him. She knows I liked it. George crashed into the seat next to me and leans with his elbows on his knees and talks to Lee across the compartment. He is sitting next to Fred who is still in a heated discussion with Angelina who at the moment was staring out the window sulking.

"Do you like Quidditch?" Alicia asks. I shrug.

"What's that?" I ask, feeling stupid.

At that moment, a hush falls over the cabin. Now I feel really stupid.

"You mean you've never played?" asks Angelina.

"You mean you've never watched?" asks Lee.

"You mean you've never learned the game?" asks Fred.

"Oh stuff it, the lot of you. She's a Muggleborn!" snapped George, coming to my rescue. A wave of gratitude swept over me.

"Oh." They all said unanimously and looked pointedly at Alicia.

"Fine, ask the 'smart girl' to explain it.

Ok Quidditch, first of all, is a game played on broomsticks. They're not Muggle conceptions of broomsticks but I'll get to that. It played with in an oval shaped pitch that's got 3 hoops set up on sticks at each end. The object of the game is to catch the Golden Snitch."

"What's that?" I ask.

"It's little gold ball with wings that flies around crazy fast. It's the Seeker job to catch it." Anticipating my next question, Alicia says, "I'll get to the Seeker's job later. In addition to the Snitch, there's a red ball called the Quaffle and two iron balls called Bludgers. These particular balls are magiked to fly around and knock the players off their brooms"

"Wow…" I say, my eyes probably the size of saucers.

'Ok you got that so far?" Alicia asks kindly. I nod. George elbowed me and nodded.

"So there are 7 players on each team. There is a Keeper, three Chasers, two Beaters and the Seeker.

The Keeper and Chasers deal with the Quaffle. The Keepers guards the goal hoops. The Chasers uses the Quaffle to score in the opponents' goal hoops. Each score is worth 10 points. The Seeker's only job is to catch the Golden Snitch. Catching the Snitch ends the game. The team whose Seeker catches the Snitch earns 150 points-"

"So they win?" I interrupted.

"Nope," says George. I turn my head quickly to look at him. By accident I smacked him in the face with my braid. "Whoa, watch it there Kates! I didn't ask to get whipped!"

"Aww...poor Georgie, I thought you were a tough guy." I say with a smile. George grins.

"I am tough." He says with fake defense. Alicia lets out a 'Tsk!' and continues,

"So anyway, the Beaters' job is to hit the Bludgers with bats away from their team and towards the other team."

"Wow. That sounds amazing. Can I join?" I ask eagerly. Fred smiled and leaned across the compartment.

"Sorry kid you gotta be a 2nd year. But you should learn to fly really well this year so you'll be amazing at tryouts."

"So you lot going to try out?" I ask anticipating the answer.

"Beaters" say Fred and George at the same time.

"Chasers" say Alicia and Angelina.

"Keeper" says Lee.

"Fat chance" says Angelina. "Oliver Wood's got tenure. He's was Keeper last year."

"Blimey, what is it with you and Oliver? You're his personal fangirl." says Fred.

"Yeah, her and the rest of the second and third years." Adds George.

"Oh shut it you two." snaps Angelina half-heartedly.

"We should probably change into our school uniforms," says Lee checking his watch, "We'll be there soon."

"Yeah…" mutters George.

"You lot better clear out" says Alicia to the boys as Angelina prods the boys out the compartment and pulling the curtains.

"So you guys are Gryffindors right?" I ask as we remove out Muggle clothes and change into our school robes.

"Yep!" chirps Angelina, the happiest I've seen her since I met her. She and Fred must really be at odds. As Alicia pulled on her knee socks she chants,

"Go, Go, Gryffindor! Go, Go, Gryffindor!!" Angelina dances barefoot as Alicia makes a beat with her hands and feet. I laugh. Angelina pulls me into the dance and we start bobbing, dancing, and finally collapsing into laughter. This was the beginning of Katie Bell breaking out of her shell.

A knock broke us from our laughter. George stuck his head in with his eyes tightly closed.

"Are you all decent?"

"We're dressed but we're still working on decency." I say hoping to impress the other girls. It works. They howl with laughter.

"Yeah, yeah" says George as Fred and Lee burst into the room.

"Out!" yells Lee and we rush out giggling at out alleged indecency. We roam the corridors for about 5 minutes until George grabs me from behind and lifts me in the air. I squeal and laugh. He looks rather handsome in his Gryffindor school tie. He puts me down and we follow him back into the compartment.

As we all pile into the compartment I noticed a plump witch making her way down the corridor with a trolley loaded with sweets. George, who some how managed to get behind me, whispers,

"Excellent! The candy trolley! Get your money ready!" We go into the carriage and make the announcement. Lee suggests the six of us pool our finances and buy the lot. As the others go into their bags and pockets bringing up money I just learned to be Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, I shamefully open my change purse and produce 3 Sickles and a Knut. It was the only change I managed to intercept from my mother when we went shopping in Diagon Alley. As Lee passed his pointed hat around to me, I looked inside it. It was already nicely filled with gold and silver. I dumped my meager change in and looked down at my folded hands. George put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't feel bad. Me 'an George, we save up all summer for The Trolley Lady. No one told you. You couldn't have known. This is what the LJHF is for."

'The LJHF?" I ask, feeling a little better.

"The Lee Jordan Hat Fund" says George deadly serious. I break out laughing. There's a knock on the compartment door. The plump witch opens it and asks,

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" Lee dumps the contents of the LJHF onto the lady's cart.

"We'll take a bit of everything please." He says. The witch produced a large bag and fills it to the brim with all sorts of brightly colored candies, flashy boxes and crinkling cellophane. We all thank her and she shuts the compartment door and wheels her cart down the corridor.

"All right everyone, gather 'round," instructs Lee. We all sit on the floor as Lee turns the bag upside down and candy rains down on us. As the others go for their particular favorites, George says,

"I'll grab you a bit of everything. Wizarding candy is a million times better then your Muggle stuff." He carefully selects two or three of each kind and dumps them in my skirt lap. I open a box marked 'Chocolate Frogs'. Inside is a little frog made out of solid chocolate. In a very Weasley way, I bit the head off and studied the card that came with it. It depicted some wizard I had never heard of and was about to crumple it up when Fred caught my hand.

"You don't want to be doing that." He said

"Right, that's the whole reason for the frogs" added George.

"To collect the cards"

"And have 'em all!"

"Oh" I say and pocket the card.

The rest of the train ride was punctuated by the six of us enjoying the effects of the different sweets. George had gone to the loo so no one had warned me about 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans" and had nearly gagged on the pepper flavored one.

"Cheer up," Alicia said, who was sharing a box of them with me, "at least you didn't get a vomit flavored one." She popped one in her mouth and gagged. "Ugh. I did." The compartment exploded with laughter.

Eventually the train screeched to a halt at the darkened Hogsmeade platform. I made to follow Fred, George, Lee, Angelina and Alicia but Lee told me that I was supposed to o with the other first years towards a giant of a man who introduced himself as Hagrid. I turned and waved to the others but they had all disappeared into the throng of students.

What happened next was very much a blur. We followed the man down to a lake where we all got in boats. The boats magically floated us across the lake. And that's when I saw it. Hogwarts Castle. I looked at it and thought, 'I am home.'

Sorting was another blur of light, color and sound. I spent the whole time before praying I would get into Gryffindor and be able to be friends with George and the rest.

When I realized we'd be going in alphabetical order, I cursed my last name. All too quickly the stern witch who was introduced as Professor McGonagall called "Bell, Katie". I stumbled forward out of line and sat on the stool. The woman placed the tattered old hat on my head and waited. The hat shifted around on my head and spoke in my ear.

"Hmm…made friends in Gryffindor already I see…you're every clever, you could go to Ravenclaw…no, I see good things for you in Gryffindor, friends, a love, success and happiness. It will be difficult you know. There is much rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin…It would be a shame to see you caught in the fray. Well, keep that head of you shoulders as you go to GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall cheered as I hurried down to the Gryffindor table. Angelina, Fred, Lee, Alicia and George mobbed me walking down and suffocated me in hugs.

"Your one of us now!" roared Fred happily trying to be heard over the din of the whole long table cheering for their new addition. We sat down, Lee, George and I on one side, Alicia, Angelina, and Fred across from us. I hadn't noticed who I was sitting next to on my right, but Angelina did. She tried to get my attention but eventually he introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Oliver Wood," he said. He was Scottish and very handsome. Obviously a third year. He smiled at me, "Welcome to Gryffindor." I offered up an almost inaudible 'Hi' before he turned back to face the Head Table to watch the rest of the sorting. I caught Alicia and Angelina's eyes. We all let out a little squeal. I mouthed a 'He's SO cute' to Angelina who replied 'Not cute, gorgeous' Alicia rolls her eyes and mouths, "He's a third year and WAY out of our leagues." Angelina and I roll our eyes. Fred is sulkily watching the Sorting. I think he has a crush on Angelina and is jealous of Oliver.

Finally the Sorting is over and the Headmaster makes his speech. I immediately have respect for the old man. Dumbledore gives a few announcements and finally is finished. Food magically appears and the six of us feast and laugh and I completely forget Oliver Wood was right next to me.

As the meal ended out, the crew and I got up to go to our dorms. As I tried to step over the bench I tripped and bumped into Oliver. I apologized like crazy but he, in 3rd year coolness, simply said,

"That's quite alright. But I hope you're less clumsy on a broom, you've got the build of a Chaser. You ought to try out next year." He flashed a grin and then ran off with his almost-as-cool friends. Angelina and Alicia immediately appeared at my elbows.

"Oh my gods, you're SO lucky!" Alicia said, positively vibrating with excitement.

"What? Why?" I ask, feeling confused and for some reason giddy.

"Oliver Wood TOTALLY checked you out. Uhh, I'm SO jealous!" cried Angelina.

I rolled my eyes and we made out way to Gryffindor Tower. The whole way there I kept thinking about what the sorting hat had said about me, that I would find love in Gryffindor. Had it meant Oliver? Or did it mean someone else? I hadn't met many Gryffindors yet, after all. I looked ahead up the steps. Where was George? I tried to keep walking but my foot was stuck. I yelled and fell back. Two freckled arms caught me and pulled me out of the trick step.

"Oh, thank you!" I said.

"No problem," said George, "you and I must be very good friends, always meeting up with each other." I laugh. I've been doing a lot of that lately. I rarely even smiled at home.

My other four friends swarmed around me.

"So how do I tell you two apart?" I ask, indicating Fred and George.

"Easy" said Fred

"Fred's got a scar above his left eyebrow," George said as Fred showed off the scar that stretched from the middle of his eyebrow diagonally down to his hair line

"And George's got a scar on his right jaw." His scar was shorter, only about an inch long right on the edge of his jaw line. Fred and George begin to recount how they got their scars, Fred in a sled riding accident as a toddler, George in a fight with Fred.

All too soon we arrive at the portrait hole. The password we learn is "Jocund". We hurry inside. The effects of the mashed potatoes and turkey begin to take their effect on me. I yawn as Angelina, Alica and I wave goodbye to the twins and Lee. Alicia and Angelina deposit me in front my dorm door.

"'Night" I say as they wave and move sluggishly up the next flight to their room.

I open the wood door and walk into the round room. My roommates look up from their various unpacked trunks. I smile at them.

"Hi, I'm Katie Bell" I say in an attempt to be friendly. The 4 other girls come out to greet me. A strawberry blond girl introduces herself as Beatrice then goes back to her bed to hang Broadway and West End posters on her wall. 'Drama Queen' I thought assigning her a role. The next girl called herself Lynn. She looked kind of boring. Her flax hair was limp and her eyes were blank. 'Normal' I thought. The next girl came up sporting bottle cap glasses the size of the sun. Her name was Alice as the iron-on letters on her shirt said. After her introduction she scuttled back underneath her science books. The final girl strode over from her perfectly pink luggage and looked me over.

"Julia" she said finally. She was slightly taller then me. "You smell like a guy. Are you a lesbian?" I back off. Prep was her assignment.

"No, I've made a few guy friends already and they like hugging me." That sounded like such a lame excuse but it worked for her she sniffed and turned away.

I walked over to my own four poster bed and knelt in front of my trunk, popping the brass buckles open. Compared to the other girls I had relatively little to unpack. My toiletries went on the shelf under my bedside table. Clothes were hung up in my share of the closet. School books stayed in the trunk. My wand lay in its case on the top of the table. I didn't think to bring any posters.

I sat on my bed and watched the other girls unpack. Beatrice is wrestling with glossy posters and Spellotape trying to get the tape to hold up her countless posters. Lynn went to the bathroom. Alice is trying to get all of her science book to stay on her bookshelf. She has about 8 too many. Perfectly preppy Julia is getting her stuff (which is all pink) to stay in its place and then borrows Beatrice's tape to put up a poster of a boy band.

I sigh and flop back on my bead, arms spread out. All too soon the Head Girl comes around and tells us to go to bead. We all wait to use the sinks and the showers before being enveloped by the soft down covers of our beds and drifting off to sleep.

A/N: Ah! First chapter done! I hope you like it. I know I'm terrible w/ "Twinisms" Advice is definatly welcome. Di I make them act to old? Should I just skip ahead to hormones? Tell me what you think? Thanks!


	2. A Note to The Readers

Minor DH spoilers in this just to folow protocol. But if you haven't read it yet you won't get what I'm talking about.

To my readers,

Thank you for all of the support and feedback you have given me for this little story. It is a true joy to receive an e-mail from someone I've never met congratulating me on my story. Because of this, it is very difficult to go through with this.

This story is going to be closed for a very long time. I have recently finished reading the final installment in the Harry Potter saga and, well, you know what happens. Though thankfully our Trio remains intact, some of my personal favorites will be missed. Among them, characters from this fanfic.

I'm not sure I can sit down and write about people who in 8 years time will die or be hurt. It's almost like writing your version of the life of a dead relative. And in some ways, the characters J.K. Rowling has created, most especially the Weasleys, seem like family. This series began the summer I was 5. I was an avid reader back then and have followed Harry's story almost that long. Those 10 years seem to have flown by. I grew up alongside a boy wizard and his world that existed between book covers. Because of Ms. Rowling's amazing writing these characters leapt out of the pages to become my friends, often when flesh-and-blood ones were hard to come by.

I have been blessed with having no memories of deaths in my family. However, in some ways that is a curse because I have no experience with grief. I wept openly when Fred died, as though he was my own brother. George's loss of an ear was also difficult. All the others that died from the "good guys" side hurt too. Lupin, Dobby, and all the rest, even Hedwig. While they are not real, I half-wish they were so I might see them in some sort of afterlife.

In an attempt to deal with the grief both of characters dying and the book series ending, I am going to take a break from for a while. I need to wait until the people in these book remain just that, people in books. Considering my history with the Harry Potter series, that could be a while. But I promise you, I will return, hopefully with many chapters ready for posting.

I will be contacting my beta after posting this to let her know what I'm doing. I hope she will understand my need to take time away. She is a very dear friend of mine who knows how I get about Harry Potter characters. She and I will keep in touch and when the time come, this fanfic will be dusted off and added to.

And so I close, dear readers, and begin to wait. Wait for the day when I wake up and realize that I still as much of a rabid Harry Potter that I ever was I just have stopped dwelling on the deaths of the characters. This could be weeks, months, dare I say years? until that moment. So my fellow fans, keep an eye out for me every now and then and know that when I return, I and my fanfic will be the better for it.

-Katie aka Tonx14


	3. Chapter 2

**_NOTES: I put the stuff I changed in blue. Something you might need to work on is keeping everything in the same tense. You started out in past tense, so keep it that way._**

**Chapter 2**

All too soon, my alarm clock wakes me up. I roll out my bed and shut the blasted thing off. I dress and freshen up in a state of semi-consciousness. I shuffled down the stairs, nearly falling under the weight of my book bag. **I'm** almost immediately mobbed by the crew.

_That_ got me up.

As I'm carried in by the flow of robed children down to breakfast, George lifts my bag off my shoulder and pretended to buckle under **it's** weight.

"Gods, Katie. Why do you feel the need to carry around bits of cement block? If you want to have a bloke beaten up, just get us to do it.â€ He tossed it back to me and we sat down for breakfast.

I glanced around the table listlessly. Watching the rest of the school chattering and eating made me feel like I was watching all this from the other side of the sunrise-colored roof.

SuddenlyI didn't feel like eating.

I put my head down on the table between **my plate and George's.** I was almost asleep when George started to tickle my ear with the end of one of my braids. He grinned.

"Kitty, you gotta eat something," he said seriously, lifting my head up. I sat up and eyed my empty, golden plate. George piled on a sausage, scrambled eggs, a half-slice of toast, and a clump of green grapes. Across from me, Fred poured me a mug of tea and **practically dumped** half the contents of the sugar bowl in, before stirring it with the end of his wand.

Angelina, who **is** sitting next to him, rolls her eyes and swapped mugs with me. "Trust me. You don't need a dose of Weasley Tea on the first day. " give you a right headache by noon."

A prefect came by and passed out schedules to us. I glanced down at the piece of parchment. Monday's schedule was:

_-Charms_

_-Transfiguration_

_-Herbology_

_-Lunch_

_-History of Magic_

_-Double Potions_

_-_(And finally) _Dinner_

George read my schedule and pulled a face. "Ah, that's rotten luck." He gestured with his fork to my Potions class slots. "Snape is the worst in the afternoons."

"But that implies that he's nice in the mornings," says Fred from across the table. "...which he isn't." Lee laughed.

"Right. So Charms is great. Flitwick is so oblivious you could light a firecracker in the back of his classroom," said George as he piled bacon on his plate.

"Now there's an idea," Lee **agrees**, before shoveling pancakes into his mouth.

"Boys, you said no pranks until two weeks into the year!" Angelina **admonishes**.

"You sound like our mum," Fred and George answered together.

"She's right, you know," Alicia said on my left, pouring herself some juice, "remember what happened last year?" The boys started laughing.

"Wait. What happened last year?" I asked, turning to Alicia. She took a swallow of her juice before responding.

"Those idiots over there decided it would be a really clever idea to magic the suit of armor by the Potions dungeon to say insulting things to whoever passed **it**. Unfortunately, Snape was the first one to pass it and the suit said that he should wash his hair. Snape had a conniption and took twenty points off **and gave them detention."**

"Points?"

"Up there." Angelina nodded towards the Head Table. Behind it stood four immense hourglasses full of different colored gemstones. Above each of them were plaques. All of them right now said five hundred and all the gemstones were in the upper bulb.

"See, no one's lost points yet. Wait until after the first class and our darling friends here" she sent a look to Fred and George," will have lost us a few. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins. You lose points for being bad; you win points for being good. Snape is brutal with the pointsâ€"â€

"But Flitwick passes them out like candy," George **interrupts**. "Kitty, go to the Common Room at break. We'll be in there...and we have got something to show you."

As if by perfect timing, the bell rang. Everyone in the Great Hall dashed madly to class. Angelina volunteered to walk me to Charms since she had class nearby.

"Angelina, what's going on between you and Fred?" I asked as we climbed the stairs. "You two seemed really at odds on the train."

We weave in and out of the other students. Angelina seems to now where she's going. This is a good thing because I have no clue. "Please, call me 'Angie' or 'Ange'. Everyone does." She remembers me question and sighs, "Fred...Fred and I...well, I like him. Sometimes I wish I didn't because he does stuff that I don't like, or stuff that embarrasses me. But...I still like him. He's sweet, kind and cute."

"But I thought you liked Oliver. You seemed pretty keen on him last night at dinner."

"I think a lot of people like Oliver the way they like celebrities or famous athletes. This sort of untouchable, safe crush. If I had to pick between Oliver and Fred, it'd be Fred in a heartbeat."

"Isn't one twin like the other? Why Fred and not George?"

"I know you've known those two for less than twenty-four hours, but soon you'll begin to realize how different they are. Fred is the people person. He's out there conning people and laying pranks. George is more serious, even though he comes up with most of their crazy ideas. They're both smart and they play off each other well. I just sometimes wish they weren't into pranks so much. They're going to get into trouble..." She trailed off, and we walked the last few feet to my class in a warm silence.

I entered my classroom and shuffled to the back of the room. The professor is tiny. He had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk.

I glanced around the room. Lynn, from my dorm room, was sitting by the window and pretending to be invisible. I looked at the rest of the class. Altogether, there were maybe fifteen of us. One of the boys was looking at smiled at me. I sat down in a vacant seat next to his.

"Cormac McClaggan," he **says by way of introduction**. "Gryffindor, obviously. What do you think of it here? My brother told me everything about this place. He's a sixth year."

Cormac appeared to be built like a George gone wrong. Both were stocky and broad-shouldered, but Cormac looked as if he was wearing shoulder pads underneath his robe. His curly, wiry hair grew from his head like sandy moss. I gave him a toothless smile.

"Katie Bell. It's alright, I guess."

The professor called together everyone's attention and began speaking. His voice was squeaky and high-pitched.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! As you have probably figured out, this Charms. I'm Professor Flitwick and this year, we are going to learn the basics of want movement and spell casting. I know you are all eager to being casting spells right away,** but first, I must make sure you are all here."**

He pulled out his class list and called out names. As usual, I was one of the first people to be called. When he reached my name, I raised my hand and said "Here" in an almost inaudible voice.

After he finished, Professor Flitwick instructed us to get out our books and read the introduction to the first chapter. We did so. While the professor paced the room, a note landed on my desk.It read:

_I don't get this...do you? __  
__ -Cormac_

I responded:

_Yes...sort of._

_This is so stupid. Why can't we cast spells?_

_Because we have to know theory first. But I agree. I wish we could start now._

_Ugh...he's giving us homework. Do you want to study with me during break this afternoon?_

_Sorry. I have to meet some friends. Maybe some other time, ok?_

_Yeah, sure. Whatever._

He glowered at me, then buried his nose in The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). I felt bad for him. Obviously, he had some sort of crush on me or maybe he's dumb. But I had to meet George, and Angie, and everyone, didn't I?

I managed to drag myself through the rest of the morning, keen on avoiding Cormac. Transfiguration was amazing, as was Herbology out in the greenhouses. Finally, lunch rolled around. I ate with George, Fred, Ange, Alicia, and Lee. They were continuously reminding me to meet them at break.

I had plenty of time to think about what they were going to show me through and incredibly dull History of Magic lesson. Shortly after arriving in the Potions dungeon, I decided I hated the Potions Master, Snape. That double class was the worst. Fortunately, I kept to myself, did my work, and managed not to bungle the potion completely. Snape considered it "Fair", which I learned to be the closet thing to praise he'd give anybody who was a Gryffindor."

Finally, Potions was over and I walked back to the common room. Unlike this morning, the room was loud and packed with students. I spotted Lee's dreadlocks by a tapestry in a dark corner of the room. I rushed over to them, nearly bowling a fifth year over.

Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, and Alicia were all seated around a table we would later claim as our own. They smiled up at me as I plopped down into the remaining seat.

"Well, have you got to show me then?"

"Leave your stuff here, Katie," Fred said, "We're all going on a little adventure."

"What?" I asked, feeling confused.

The group stood up. Lee and Alicia scanned the Common Room to make sure no one, especially teachers and prefects, were watching us. Angelina leaned against the table, her arms crossed and her expression showed her obvious disapproval.

Fred lifted up a piece of the tapestry all the way in the corner. He motioned for me to go behind it. I hesitated for a second too long and George seized my wrist and dragged me in.  
We were standing in a narrow passageway. The only light came filtered in through the worn tapestry. I squinted to see George's outline.

"Lumos," he whispered and a light flared up between us from his wand. I did the same. The light made the passageway feel almost...homely.

"Ugh. What's taking them so long?"

"Fred probably had to convince Ange to come," I explained.

"So...did you meet anyone?" George asks.

"Funny you should ask. I met this guy...Cormac McClaggan in Charms first period." George stiffened.

"What did he want with you?" I shrugged.

"He wanted to study with me, but I told him I had to meet you lot."

"Good. You should steer clear of that guy. His brother…I've heard hear about his brother. He dated three girls at one time last year. He's a complete player and a real jerk. Doubtless he's taught young Cormac some tricks.

I was slightly shocked and offended. "Since when do I require boy advice?! Who do you think you are?! My brother or something?!" Before I could go on, George interrupted me.

"Kitty, all I'm saying is that I want to protect you from creeps like him. I'm only looking out for you."

"Stop calling me 'Kitty'! I'm not your little sister and I'm certainly not your bloody pet!!"

As if on cue, Lee, Alicia, Fred, and a very unwilling Angelina came through the tapestry.

"Right. So this passageway might come in handy later," **notes** Fred, as he and the others lit their own wands. We form a line: George, then me, Fred, Angelina, Alicia, and then finally Lee. We all held our wands aloft as George led us down the passageway and made a sharp turn after going down five or six steps. We then reached an open area. There were a dozen doors scattered around the open hall.

"Now, let's see…" Lee **mumbles** breaking off from the group. He counted the doors and muttered to himself. After a moment, he pointed to a door seemingly at random. "That's the one. Our marker went out over the summer."

Fred strode across the room and marked a big circle of red stars from his wand. He then opened the door and we all shuffled in. I looked around. We were in a huge tunnel. It could've easily fit two double-decker buses next to each other.

"Hey, Fred?" asked George.

"Hey, what?" answered Fred.

"RACE YA!" George **takes off** down the tunnel. Fred and Lee **rushes after him**. Soon, the echoes of their feet pounding the floor faded away. Alicia, Angie, and I exchanged sidelong glances.

"So?" Alicia probed

"So, what?" I replied.

"Who'd you meet" Ange questioned.

"What are you two on about?"

"You looked hot and bothered a few minutes ago." Alicia prompted, 'Who's the lucky guy?"

"Cormac McClaggen"

"Ooh. Is he cute?" Angelina asked.

"Not really. George said that his older brother is a creep," I answered.

"Oh, then he must be Connor McClaggen's little brother." Alicia shuddered. "He is a creep. He's a sixth year and therefore thinks that he's god's gift to the women of this school. He'll ask anything out as long as it's a girl."

"And sometimes not even then." Angie added with a laugh.

As we made our way down the tunnel, the walls got narrower and narrower. Finally, we **have to** fall into single file until we reached a wall. Fred, George, and Lee were waiting there. Lee was still panting a little from their run.

In the middle of the wall was a large brass handle. I tried unsuccessfully to open it. I turned and looked at the rest of the group.

"Ok guys, what's the password?" I asked.

"There isnt one," Angelina responded.

"Ok..."

"It requires a sacrifice to prove that you can be trusted to know the secrets of the school. That you can promise to never reveal them to any teacher, prefect, Head person, staff member, or school governor," George **explains** seriously.

"You must also promise to never use these tunnels, shortcuts, passwords, et cetera for malicious reasons," continued Fred. "We use them only for mischief-making, but never to seriously hurt someone."

"You may tell other students about some of the secrets of Hogwarts only when it is necessary for them to know. Only the six of us present here will know everything," Lee **goes on**.

"This sacrifice is a binding magical contract," Alicia **explains further**. "Should you break the terms of the contract, death awaits you. We all signed last year. The person who revealed the secret to us has graduated, but they told us that there must always be six guardians of the secret of Hogwarts. **_You_** were chosen."

"This will be your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. Are you willing to accept the education that the castle, not its teachers, will give you?" Lee asked.  
I glanced around at them. Was this some kind of joke?

I nodded, slightly uneasy at their seriousness. Fred and George stepped forward, **the former producing** a small, gold goblet the size of a shot glass. George pulled out a dagger-sized letter-opener that looked exceptionally sharp.

"We need to make only one cut on your palm that you need to open the doors with," George murmured. I bit my lip, nodding again. I extended my right hand out to him. He took my fingers in his left and held the dagger a few inches above my palm. Fred held the goblet below my hand.

"Ready? It'll hurt more than a regular cut. Magical contracts always do."

"Ok," I whispered. I closed my eyes then opened them right before George lowered the knife.

As it made contact with my skin, I felt a sharp, shooting pain course through my body. Veins of magic, the color of the four houses of Hogwarts, twisted around my right wrist, arching to my left wrist, my neck, and both my ankles. George slid the knife along my palm and a few drops of my blood fell into Fred's cup.

I screamed when George lifted the knife from my skin, the magic rushing out of me as quickly and as painfully as it had entered. Fred caught a few, final drops before I collapsed to the cold stone floor, my head spinning.

George handed the knife to Alicia and knelt next to me, pulling cotton bandages out of his pocket. He wrapped up my hand as I **start to cry**. He helped me to my feet and he and Fred supported me since my knees were shaking so bad I could hardly stand. The croup converged around me in a group hug, and **my tears begin to dry up**.

Fred broke away and carefully poured the blood across the threshold that I noticed was stained **brown** no doubt from former mischief-makers. The blood glowed red and the locks on the door clicked open loudly.

'Wow." I **breath**, stunned.

Instinctively, I reached between the twins and opened the handle. The stones folded in on themselves and we were greeted with the setting sun lighting up the courtyard outside the archway where we stood. And there loomed the Quidditch Pitch.

'It's...beautiful." I **gasped** staring at it.

Angie chuckled. "Look at her. A born Quidditch player."

We all walked through the entrance arch onto the field. After standing there for a few minutes, Alicia checked her watch.

"Oy, you lot. We better get back to the castle. Dinner's due to start in a fifteen minutes."

We all walked back, the usual way and managed to get into the Great Hall before the rush. Dinner was filled with laughter and talk of classes.

"So how was old Snapey for you, Kitty?" George asked, popping an olive in his mouth. I shot him a glare at the nickname. He shrugged as if to say, "You're stuck with it now."

"Dreadful," I answered. 'He made poor Timothy Stuart from Hufflepuff cry after his potion spilled. He seemed to like my work well enough, though."

"Ahh, but once he knows you associate with these ne'er-do-wells we know and love as Fred and George, he'll dislike you quick enough," said Angie wisely.

After dinner, we all headed back to the Common Room. I completed my Charms homework and soon, we were all chatting around our table. All too soon, a prefect sent us off to bed. I collapsed on my bed after a quick detour to the crowded bathroom.

Hogwarts was great.

And George remained to be...interesting.

_Beta Notes: Holy crap. That was brilliant. A few grammatical kinks, but bloody brilliant this chapter will remain. But geez. Eight pages, Katie. Eight friggin' pages._

_Author Notes: Hey guys. Ok, so I lost my internet for a week awhile back so I was ale to hide myself in my room with a vat of tea, my laptop, and my emo cat and __write__. I'm up to chapter 5. However they will remain unpublished until I get some reviews. But I'm weak so I'll probably get like 2 and be all happy and shoot the next chapter off to my lovely beta. Speaking of my beta, she did an AMAZING job. So, review, review review! Constructive criticism would be nice, but flames will be used to toast marshmallows._


	4. Chapter 3

Hey guys, sorry, sorry, sorry for the slow updates. School is impossible. [ I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. And so without further ado...

**Chapter 3-The Flying Pickle and The Flying Lesson**

The next week passed by in a blur. After the first two days, the homework load was unbearable. Sometimes, I'm holed up in the library for hours at a time, trying to finish my assignments...  
..._trying_ being the operative word. George has been especially keen on getting me to relax.

"Kitty, you need to loosen up," he advised over dinner Friday night. "There's no way you have this much homework as a first year. And if you're worrying about it, maybe we should walk you up to Dumbeldore's office and ask to switch you into Ravenclaw."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," I replied flatly. "You don't know how much homework first years get. I'd bet my best quill you didn't do half the work last year."

"Aye. That's true." He caught Fred and Lee's eyes before looking up at the bewitched ceiling. At the moment, it was blanketed in thick black clouds. Now and then, a bolt of lightning arcs between two clouds and a roll of thunder resounds. George shuddered and looked back at me.

"You better hope the weather clears before tomorrow, Kitty dear."

I frowned. "Why's that, George _darling_?" (As you can see, George and I are still at odds over my pet name.) "If they cancel Herbology that's all the better for me. I'll have more time to work on this bloody Potions essay."

"Was that a curse that crossed our Kitty's lips?!" he exclaimed in mock horror. "Well, Snape is worth cursing. As I was trying to say, Kitty _dear_, while you were hiding in your books, they announced the first year Flying Lessons. They start tomorrow afternoon."

"Precisely," said Fred, jumping out of his and Angelina's conversation and into ours. "And school brooms are notoriously dodgy."

"They're half-awful on good days," added Lee.

"Well, they're not my first pick, either," Alicia agreed.

"They definitely don't crack my Top 20," Angie concluded.

"Hmm..." I muttered, not able to think of anything else to say.

Were these brooms _actually_ that bad? What if I was bad? I might crash. I could **_die_**.

No...they couldn't be that bad and I certainly couldn't be that terrible.

It appeared someone in the sky was sympathetic because by morning, the last of the murky clouds from last night's thunderstorm were exiled from the dining room ceiling. All during the morning classes, first years were abuzz with excitement.

Cormac spent most of Charms telling me (and anyone else who made the mistake of pretending to care) full accounts of his brother's daring feats while on holidays. Throughout the day, the facts kept changing. Sometimes, Connor McClaggan was being chased by an Erumpent on the savannahs of Africa. Other times, he was attempting to rescue a unicorn foal in the woods by the McClaggan summer home.

The consensus was that Cormac was looking for attention and making the whole thing up. We patiently endured his tales, which were often acted out in the hallways between classes, and most people secretly hoped he would be a hopeless case on a broomstick.

It wasn't until lunch that I got thoroughly excited about learning to fly. This was largely due to the fact that Lee brought down an action figure of a female Quidditch player dressed in dark green. Like everything else in the wizarding world, it was moving. The witch paced back and forth between a roll of Ange's Charms homework that she (Ange) was racing to finish and Fred's goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Who's that?" I asked, sitting down between George and Lee.

"Who is **_this_**?!" Lee exclaimed, horror etched on his face. "This is Gwendolyn Morgan, captain of the Holyhead Harpies. The Harpies are an all female Quidditch team and an amazing one too. She knocked some fairy bloke out with her broomstick after he proposed to her."

Ange, Alicia, and I laughed. Fred, George, and Lee shared worried glances.

"So, Kitty dear," George said as he helped himself to some steaming grilled cheese sandwiches. "Are you pumped for your first, fabulous, fantastic flight of fancy?"

"As long as I don't have to say that five times fast," I answered solemnly, spearing a slice of pickle and absentmindedly placed it on top of George's teetering pile of grilled cheese.

"Oi!" he cried. "What did you do that for?!"

"Oh!" I replied, realizing what I'd done. "I'm sorry. Didn't you want the pickle?" I began to reach for it, but George blocked my hand.

"I did want the pickle."

"Then if you want the pickle, why make a big deal out of it?"

"I wanted to get my own pickle."

"One pickle is as good as any other pickle, George."

"I'll pick own pickle, Kitty dear."

"George. All you need to say is 'Thank you for picking my pickle,' and that would be the end of it."

"I don't want this pickle."

"But I thought you wanted a pickle."

"I _do_ want a pickle. But I don't want _this_ pickle. You can have it." He picked it up and tried to put it on my plate. I stopped him.

"I don't want a pickle, George."

"Take the bloody pickle, Katie!" He shoved it towards me.

"No! I don't like pickles!" I shoved it back.

"How can you not like pickles?! Pickles are great!"

"Then **_you_** eat the bloody pickle!"

"I don't want this pickle!"

"I refuse to---"

"OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" ..._that_ was Alicia. George and I looked away from our pickle battle. She had her wand drawn and pointed at the green food of contention. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The pickle rose from George's hand and hovered about three feet above our heads. Some Hufflepuffs at a neighboring table pointed at it, and a few people began giggling. Alicia then made a slashing motion with her wand. I flinched. However, it appeared that she cut the pickle in half. She carefully lowered her wand and half of the pickle landed on my plate, while the other was on George' plate.

"Now," she said calmly, as if discussing the weather, "both of you _will _eat half of the pickle and that _will _be the end of it."

I threw a mutinous glance at George and forced myself to eat my pickle, chasing it down with a long gulp of pumpkin juice. George, on the other hand, was munching on his like it was a gourmet crisp.

I hate you" I said sweetly to him. He lifted up a serving platter with pickles on it.

"Pickle?" he asked innocently, he dark blue eyes wide. I smirked and ignored him.

Finally, after a History of Magic lesson that was so boring, it was close to a physical ache (seriously. Who cares about Goblin rebellions anyway? They didn't win) it was time for Flying.

We assembled out on the front lawn. There was a faint breeze that made the wide cloak of Madame Hooch, the Flying teacher, blow about her as she walked up and down the rows of first years.

"Well, stand next to the broom and say 'Up!' Then we'll take it from there."

There was a chorus of shouts of "Up" but almost nothing happened. My broom shot up immediately, but it seemed everyone else's stayed on the ground. Everybody's except for Cormac (who was on my right), that is.

"Oh, this is excellent, Bell!" he cried as we stood next to our hovering brooms. "I'm gonna be a natural just like my brother and father!"

"Yeah...yeah" I answered, not really paying attention.

It took awhile, but soon everybody was mounted on his or her broomstick. On Madame Hooch's whistle, we all kicked off. About half the class made it up. She had everyone get airborne to go through these hoops she had set up for practice while she got the rest of the class in the air. I zoomed around, banking corners, diving, swerving, and shooting straight up into the sky.

"Nice moves there, Bell!" yelled Cormac some fifteen feet below me. "Let's see you loop!"

He shot up to my level and did one as an example. I rolled my eyes. I flew towards the school and pulled my broom handle up. A loop once, twice, three times. But oh no! I'm going to crash into something!

I pushed myself out of the loops but not quickly enough. I flew backwards into a classroom window, sliding on my back between two desks, my arms flailing to stop me. I hit my left arm off one desk and it hurt as it had been set on fire.

I finally came to a halt after I banged my head on the teacher's desk. Just before I blacked out, I saw people crowd around me, including two redheads. Struggling to remain conscious, I managed to get out, "...Amazing...but never again."

NOTES: throws pickle at KT This was a short chapter...I prefer eight-pagers to things this short. Anyways, good job. ...strangely enough, I'm pretty good at saying: "first, fabulous, fantastic flight of fancy". And as you can probably guess throws another pickle at KT I loved the pickle part...even if I prefer cucumbers. - . -;;


End file.
